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I camped a ton growing up (Boy Scouts) but then immediately stopped. Recently got back into it, had a pretty successful overnight with my toddler, looking to do it more. (Not sure winter camping is in the cards for her at this point, but maybe spring...) Since I've been out of it so long, I don't know any of the gear anymore. Several years ago I blind-bought a Kelty tent that I didn't use until now, which worked great, and the REI guy recommended a Big Agnes sleeping bag that seems pretty solid. (Comes with both a travel stuff sack and a mesh storage bag! Very nice.) The one place my purchases have let me down was an REI-branded sleeping pad that is too thin and doesn't inflate well. So I'm re-shopping for a new pad, maybe more than one. It is unclear to me what people mean by "car camping" -- some people seem to mean camping literally in the back of an SUV, some people seem to mean driving to a campsite and pitching camp right there -- but I am doing the latter. I am not going to be backpacking or otherwise transporting all my gear long distances by foot, so weight is not a super big issue. But I am looking for a self-inflating pad, I do not want to use a pump or a sack or my own breath and I have never found a closed-cell pad that was comfortable for me at all. I got my old Thermarest from my folks. I am going to need at least one more pad for my wife and maybe my kid if she isn't just going to snuggle up in the bag with one of us. My old Thermarest is nearly 30 years old and still awesome so I am heavily inclined towards a Thermarest, although I suppose I am willing to consider another brand if you will super swear that it's better in some way. (I once owned a Slumberjack that was solid, but they don't seem to make sleeping pads anymore.) Thermarest has expanded their product line since I was a kid, or else I just didn't know how many models they offered. My old one was rectangular and had a valve at the corner and was light blue, although I don't know if they made multiple colors of it. If I could just buy that again, I would. These days a lot of the distinctions between models seems to be the R-value, which I guess I care about but not as much as cushioning. I'm not going to be doing any hardcore camping in Finland or whatever but I guess I would like winter to be an option. Priority is comfort, even the comfy ones have historically rolled up pretty small to fit in the stuff sack. I would also like it to be durable, I am not rough on gear but you never know. While of course I would love to spend less money, I really don't want to under-spend and have to throw good money after bad. I was looking at the BaseCamp but maybe also the LuxuryMap? Unrelated question: My tent is a Kelty Discovery 4 (fun fact: they literally didn't make a groundcloth for it? People apparently don't use those now? I used a tarp), which is the first tent I've ever had that has a vestibule with guyout lines. (The tents I'm used to didn't have a vestibule at all.) Am I meant to leave my shoes/other stuff outside in the vestibule? Or is that going to leave me with wet shoes? I vaguely recall that I was taught to turn shoes on their sides overnight.
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Nov 25, 2021 10:48
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I am definitely not looking to buy an REI-branded mat after my poor experience with the one I already have. And definitely looking for a Thermarest-style self-inflating pad rather than an air bed. I tend to prefer the individual pads, maybe just because it's what I'm used to. Any recommendations specifically for one of those? Like I said, I'm inclined toward Thermarest, but would consider another brand, although some of the other well-reviewed ones (Sea To Summit, Nemo, Expad) are also quite expensive. It is nice that many of those, even the self-inflating ones, come with a pump sack to get the last little bit of air in, although I slept for years on Thermarests that were only as filled as the self-inflate valve could get it. In the Thermarest line I am wondering if the LuxuryMap or BaseCamp would suit my needs. The MondoKing 3D seems to be the best-liked, but at that point ($210 or so) maybe you start to look at one of the other brands that also comes with the pump sack.
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Nov 25, 2021 17:13
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I love hammocks and I really want to buy one of these but I don't know when I'm actually going to get to use it. I just dropped $100 on a nice duffel and I'm trying to exercise some self-restraint.
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Feb 19, 2022 20:08
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guppy posted:I love hammocks and I really want to buy one of these but I don't know when I'm actually going to get to use it. I just dropped $100 on a nice duffel and I'm trying to exercise some self-restraint. Update: My self-control has failed me and I now own a hammock and an Atlas suspension system. Do I also need carabiners for this or do the straps do it on their own? The reviews made me question it but I don't know why you'd sell at least the suspension system without it. I do have a few from climbing but would probably get new, or at least reassign the climbing ones to this and buy new ones for that.
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Feb 20, 2022 01:27
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Perfect, thanks!
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Feb 20, 2022 01:51
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We started taking our 3-year old daughter camping last year. Nothing serious, we've just taken her camping in my in-laws' backyard one (1) time, and that's probably what we'll be doing for a bit, though eventually we would like to take her on "real" camping trips. We were thinking of getting her her own sleeping bag as a present. I don't think we need anything heavy duty, not like she's going to be doing cold-weather camping in the near future, probably spring and summer and maybe very early fall. Anything in particular to recommend? Should I just get her a light sleeping bag with a favorite TV show character? Something from REI's Kindercamp line, or similar from other manufacturers? Same question about sleeping pads, I haven't talked to my wife about it but if she's going to be sleeping in her own bag (in the same tent with us), we should probably get her a pad. Again, REI makes a Kindercamp one, although as I mentioned a while ago, I wasn't very happy with my REI brand Thermarest clone. Size and weight are non-factors, none of this gear will ever, ever be carried except from the car door to the tent door.
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Mar 28, 2022 02:40
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Thanks. The first time I ever went camping I used a Ridge Rest and had an absolutely miserable time, so I am really gunshy about closed-cell pads, so I am unlikely to go that route. Don't have to carry this thing, so I'm probably going to go with something inflatable.
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Mar 28, 2022 03:24
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I have a couple of quick car camping questions about cooking and shelters I should definitely know the answers to already, but 20 years out of the Boy Scouts I've forgotten so much. I grew up in a troop that did a lot of stuff "the hard way," like doing all our cooking over a campfire, not a camping stove. I am not intending to subject myself to this level of rigor while attempting to take a 3 year old camping, but now I have the double whammy of not remembering what we used to do and not knowing what's good if I don't need to do all that. I am not a backpacker at all so weight etc. is not an issue for any of this stuff. I recall having dining flies, but I don't remember if we just strung up tarps or what, and I definitely don't remember how to pitch one. I've seen "instant" ones that all but pitch themselves, like this one, but the reviews are mostly bad. Is there one of these I should be looking at, or do I just need to re-learn to rig a tarp? If the latter, should I just get a giant cheap blue tarp, or is there something else I should look at? My cooking needs are pretty basic, but I would like two burners and don't care about weight, so I don't need one of the tiny little backpacking stoves. Is the classic Coleman the way to go, or are the fancy ones worth it? Can you cook under a dining fly, or is that going to melt my dining fly/cause me to breathe in nasty fumes/some other problem? I sincerely do not remember what we did if it rained. These are super basic questions and I feel like a moron asking them, but they're going to be important to know the answers to once the kiddo graduates past camping in my in-laws' back yard and we have to actually pack in our food and cook and eat it in camp.
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Apr 15, 2022 20:52
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To be clear, I was specifically talking about in case of rain. And when I say "dining fly," I'm not talking about something screened in, just something to keep the rain off you. RE: tables, we never had them growing up but I have been eyeing some of the Stoic ones that Backcountry makes. They're on sale if you're interested: https://www.backcountry.com/stoic-dirtbag-square-table https://www.backcountry.com/stoic-dirtbag-dining-table Some of the reviews aren't impressed with the construction, some of them are. No idea myself. I'm sure other places sell something similar. They have a few other models as well.
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Apr 16, 2022 01:13
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First overnight camping trip of the season with the 3-year old is in the bag. Still just setting up in my in-laws' back yard, which I think is about the right speed for her right now. The new Mondoking pad for my wife worked much better than the terrible Eddie Bauer air bed that leaked like crazy last time. Unfortunately, my 25-year old Thermarest either wasn't fully inflated -- it's hard to keep a 3-year old entertained while that happens when she wants to go in the tent and play -- or is failing or possibly the problem is that I'm fatter than I was 25 years ago. My wife suggested we look at a larger (meant for two) pad. Right now I'm eyeing the Expad Megamat Duo -- they make a "medium," a "long/wide," and a "queen" that looks to be slightly bigger than the l/w one. Doesn't look like they make a 15 model of the duo, just the 10. The other main possibility seems like a non-terrible air bed, if I get over my attachment to self-inflating pads; an acquaintance has recommended the REI one, but I wasn't real happy with my REI Thermarest knockoff, and there are an awful lot of reviews indicating that theirs started leaking air in pretty short order. They also recommended the $300 insulated version, but I only see the $150 version. But that one also says it's insulated so who knows. I'll have to double-check the dimensions of my tent -- it's the Kelty Discovery 4, which lists at around 98x84" but I'm skeptical -- to see if there would be room for another pad once the kiddo starts needing her own pad. If not, I may be in the market for a 6-person tent (we all know that the "listed" person capacity of a tent is somewhere between "maybe if you don't put any gear inside" and "outright lie," right?). Maybe the REI Kingdom 6 would suit. (EDIT: Actually, I guess that's discontinued.) The reviews on the Kelty also say that it didn't last too well for them, so it's also possible that it will just fail on me! Luckily, since we are currently just backyard camping, we can go sleep in the basement if there's a real problem. I'm really glad the kid is taking to camping. Although she did say she was super excited to go camping and she loves camping, and then we set everything up and she announced "I don't like camping" and "I want to go home." But it didn't last and we had a pretty solid night. My mother-in-law also gave her an old battery-powered Coleman-style lantern so she's very excited to have her own since she loves flashlights. She just snuggled up with my wife this time, but she's getting an REI KinderCone for her birthday, which she's going to be really excited about. I was a little worried that the 25F-degree rated bag might be a bit much, but my Big Agnes is rated down to 15F and I was pleasantly warm and not too hot at all when I woke up this morning and it was 48F out. It felt pretty chilly as soon as I got out of the bag, so I think we'll be glad to have her in the Kindercone. We'll see what the summer brings, we can always pack a few light blankets or just unzip the bag. I was thinking we would need to sort out a mat for her as well, but if we end up getting a 2-person pad for me and my wife, she can use the Mondoking.
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Apr 24, 2022 17:27
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My Boy Scout troop growing up used the Eureka Timberline and I still love it. I don't own one but occasionally think about buying one just for nostalgia. While the setup is more "complicated" than my Kelty, I actually find it easier to put up solo because you don't have to put stuff in grommets on one side while keeping them in on the other side. We used the 4-person but they make a 2-person (if you are new to camping, you should probably read these as "2-3" person and "1 person" respectively). I had a Coleman "instant up" tent growing up where you literally took it out of the bag and it more or less pops itself up. It was easy to stow too. I think they still make these.
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Apr 25, 2022 15:38
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What's the deal with these coupons? I need to buy some expensive stuff. I didn't realize it, but there's also a members-only 20% off sale right now on a lot of stuff, including what I need. Specifically, I'm hoping to buy an Exped Megamat Duo as we discussed a while back. Question about storage for this thing, I normally store mine inflated along the side wall of my bedroom with the intake valve open, as you're supposed to. Is this going to be weird and huge to do that with, am I going to regret getting this instead of two smaller Megamats? I have other stuff under the bed and it would be an issue to store it there. EDIT: On reflection, it's probably impossible to answer this question for someone else, since it's a question of how okay you are with permanently keeping a ~4 foot thing going up your wall. I think I am probably going to have to go with getting the smaller one. And at that point, maybe I should just buy a second Thermarest Mondoking since then I could share stuff like pump sacks between them. guppy fucked around with this message at 11:51 on May 20, 2022 |
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May 20, 2022 11:38
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BaseballPCHiker posted:The coupons are only for members. Basically get 20% off of an item and another item thats in their outlet. I am a member, I just don't remember getting a coupon. Oh well. incogneato posted:I had no idea Exped recommended storing the megamat fully open. That's kind of crazy, and we certainly don't have room to do that. Oh well, I guess I'll have to accept whatever foam degradation comes with storing it compressed. This is standard for all self-inflating pads, or at least it was in the late '90s/early '00s when I was camping a lot.
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May 20, 2022 17:18
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I bought this Black Diamond Moji lantern a few years ago on a whim. I opened the package and was shocked by how tiny it is, because none of the pictures had anything to show the scale, but it turns out it's awesome. Remarkably bright for the size, tiny and light. I hang it from the gear loop on the ceiling of my tent to illuminate everything, and you can use the same little hooks you hang it from as legs to put it on a table or the ground or whatever. It runs on AAAs, which is what I wanted -- originally I bought it for power outages and other emergencies -- and while rechargeable lanterns are appealing from an environmental (and cost) perspective, I always worry that they won't be charged when I need them or won't run long enough on one charge, and the batteries last a good while.
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May 24, 2022 21:56
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I have never seam sealed a tent I bought. I could see needing to do this to one that I'd had for a while, but are you supposed to do this to new tents? I've stayed dry in mine.
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Jun 1, 2022 08:17
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All hammock stands seem crazy expensive for what they are. I get served ads regularly for the Kammock one and it's like $300.
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Jun 2, 2022 20:35
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I have unfortunately learned my lesson and will no longer buy REI-branded stuff for anything significant. An REI brand fork? Sure. Tent, sleeping pad, anything like that? Absolutely not. Although I did buy the Kindercone sleeping bag for my kid. She hasn't used it yet, hopefully that'll be good.
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Jun 8, 2022 02:58
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It took forever to ship, but I finally got my Megamat 10. I've had the valve open for a couple hours and it basically hasn't inflated at all; I finally found a video that shows you how to use the little toggle to keep the valve open. Very strange, they tell you to do it but nothing in their documentation or videos shows you how to do it. I finally found this video and apparently you are literally supposed to jam the end of the toggle into the valve itself. Kind of makes sense, but it would never have occurred to me in a million years. I'm used to Thermarests where you just... open the valve and it takes care of itself. It's inflated more in the last two minutes than it did in the last two hours.
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Jun 12, 2022 01:28
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I set up the new Megamat 10. It is indeed very nice. I think I will be fine with this vs. the 15 but I can see where if you were a very big person you might prefer the 15. They were not kidding when they said to let it inflate for an hour, then close the valve and let it sit for 24 hours. After an hour the foot end was definitely not fully inflated and I was a bit worried. After 24 it is properly squared off despite the valve being closed, which I assume is the foam expanding fully. No idea why they said to store it with both valves open, but that's what I'm doing. I definitely needed to pump some more air into it to top it off, but the pump is a thousand times better than that stupid pump sack. I have my sleeping pads on their sides against the wall in the bedroom, but with a Mondoking and a Megamat, it's, um, getting a bit tight on that side of the bed. I used to store my old Thermarests in a shed with no climate control. Can I store these in the attic, or will the heat damage them? It can get very hot up there in the summer.
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Jun 12, 2022 20:40
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My wife has a basic light-duty sleeping bag, and is interested in upgrading to a nicer and warmer one. With all the 4th of July sales going on right now at Backcountry and REI, I suggested this might be a good time. Neither of us keeps up much with equipment trends, any recommendations on deals on something good right now? We are 3-season car campers only, so weight is not an issue. Our sleeping pads' R-values are insanely high, so no concerns there. I think mine is rated for 20F and has been fine for me in the weather we are likely to camp in (we have a 3-year old). I started to link some stuff that caught my eye as possible contenders, but I found myself linking basically everything because they don't seem that different (provided they are rated similarly), plus there are a lot of bags that come in a bunch of different temperature ratings separated by only a few bucks. The house brand stuff like REI and Stoic is cheap, like $50, but even some spendier brands like Marmot are pretty competitively priced right now. Backcountry seems like it has better prices and better selection right now. Independent of this question, I am curious if anyone has any opinions about Stoic or Alps Mountaineering. I always see lots of stuff from both brands. Since Stoic is Backcountry's house brand, I'm skeptical, but man, some of that stuff is priced well. Separately, I always see a bunch of Alps stuff for sale, and it usually looks interesting in terms of design, but sometimes the reviews aren't great. I'm curious whether either should be under consideration (generally, not for sleeping bags specifically). guppy fucked around with this message at 20:00 on Jun 28, 2022 |
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Jun 28, 2022 19:48
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Thanks, I went with the Cosmic synthetic. I don't care about size or weight, so the down wasn't worth an extra $40. If anyone is interested in the down, though, it's on sale for $120 at Backcountry. The synthetic is cheaper at $80. I know better than to store sleeping bags in their compression sacks, but damned if I could find a decent option for a storage sack at Backcountry. I even asked one of their people. Initially they suggested a 20-30L compression sack, but I wasn't sure if that would be breathable. I found a Sea to Summit mesh sack but it maxes out at 30L. That might be fine? But the REI one I have is 90L. For now I haven't bought anything and I'll wait and make sure it doesn't come with a storage bag -- I don't expect it to, but my Big Agnes bag did -- and if it doesn't I guess I'll buy another $20 REI sack. Seems like too much for what it is, but few other manufacturers seem to offer them.
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Jun 29, 2022 01:33
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ihop posted:Maybe a big cheap mesh laundry sack from a big box store? That is a great idea, I think I have been conditioned to think that everything has to come from a boutique outdoors retailer. Thank you, this $4 bag from Target will probably do the trick.
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Jun 29, 2022 03:02
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I know the hardcore hammock people think you can do better than the ENOs, but for what it's worth, they do sell one with an integrated bug net, the Junglenest: https://www.rei.com/product/170033/eno-junglenest-hammock Don't think it comes with a rain fly, though.
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Jun 30, 2022 12:43
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I had an old pair of Vasque Talus Trek Low Ultradry hiking shoes. I don't have them anymore, but they were awesome. I should probably unclench a little, but I'm still pretty paranoid about covid and don't really want to go to a store to get fitted, and would love to order the same thing again. Unfortunately, that model is discontinued. I was pointed to the Talus XT as the closest model still in production, in either the GTX (Gore-Tex) or Ultradry models since I want waterproof. Availability on those is surprisingly inconsistent as well, I'm not sure why. Anyone know the difference between the XT and AT? The AT is a little more available. In general, any opinions about Gore-Tex vs. whatever proprietary thing the Ultradry uses?
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Jul 7, 2022 20:08
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A friend I used to climb with (we are still friends, I just had a kid and that plus covid made it impossible to keep up) gave me one of these Zulu water bottles and I absolutely love it. It has a little cord loop tied on it with a lark's head that I imagine you could hang on a carabiner. My favorite thing about it, and I insist any water bottle I buy going forward have a similar design for hygiene reasons, is that the lid fully encloses the part you put your mouth on. The bottle inside is glass but it's very sturdy and the material surrounding it is shock-absorbent.
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Aug 3, 2022 22:25
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When I was in the Boy Scouts SOP was just to hose down the ground cloth and hang it to dry. I've never even really considered doing more than that unless there was something obviously soiled.
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Aug 4, 2022 09:29
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I am really enjoying the Exped Megamat. I would definitely recommend it over the Thermarest MondoKing 3D for the speedy inflation, ease of stowing, and little pump thing, which beats the heck out of the Thermarest pump sack. I have the 10, not the 15, and it's plenty of padding. I am sorta kinda considering upgrading my tent. Right now I have a Kelty Discovery 4, which was inexpensive and has been solid for us. The main reason is that with a MondoKing and a Megamat, there's not a lot of room for a third pad. We have been orienting the pads longways, but we did discover that we can rotate them 90 degrees and they will still fit, barely. This will allow us to fit my old Thermarest Classic, which we are giving to our 3-, almost 4-year old. There is just barely enough room at the foot of that pad, which is shorter as well as narrower, for a duffel bag, so we can just about get away with this for now. It is, however, pretty tight. I am aware, of course, that "x-person" tents rarely sleep x people with gear comfortably. Additionally, I think the bag -- not the tent itself -- is developing a small hole in it, which is pretty shocking given the light duty it's been put through. The tent itself is fine so far but if the bag is already starting to wear, I don't know how long the tent is for this world. I'm interested in recommendations if anyone has strong opinions. We are a family of three (2 adults and one young child) doing only car camping, no backpacking, so size and weight don't matter at all (you probably guessed that from our choice of sleeping pads). I figure we are looking at either a 6- or 8-person tent, depending on whether we want "plenty of room" or "palatial." I don't have a lot of strong opinions, but I would like two doors and I would rather not buy a house brand like REI given past experiences with them. I'm told that I should consider a tent that I can stand up in, although I've never had one of those, and ease of setup is nice. I do not care about vestibules and while it's not a problem to have one, either no vestibule or the ones that can be turned into awnings with poles instead of being staked out sounds more appealing to me. A tent of this size is a decent investment so longevity of construction seems important. I don't expect to camp in extreme weather, 3-season is plenty, but of course I would like rain to stay outside of the tent. Alternatively, I suppose I could just buy a 2-person tent and sleep in it and put my wife and kid in the existing 4-person tent. That would be cheaper and more flexible in the short-term, but I think the lack of "togetherness" on a family campout would be hurt, plus I still don't know if the existing tent will disintegrate in the near future. A general tent question for those of you who don't live in suburbs with lots of property: I live in a townhouse. Growing up I lived in a more suburban area and we would just hang groundcloths and sleeping bags over the fence to air out and set up the tent to dry it out for a while after getting home. What do you folks who live in the city do? I don't necessarily have the space to do that here. Since we've just been camping at my in-laws' (since she's 3, and also covid), we are just airing stuff out at their place before packing it up, but we are hoping to take our kid on more of a "real" outing sometime.
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Sep 19, 2022 01:09
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I have no information to offer about their fit for wide feet, but my last pair of Vasques were the best, most comfortable hiking shoes I've ever worn, and I'm looking to replace them with new ones. Big recommend for the brand.
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Feb 21, 2023 15:00
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Last time I looked at these you had to be careful because there are some that use frequencies that require an FCC license to use, but stores will cheerfully sell them to you without checking, so make sure you get one that uses unlicensed frequencies.
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Mar 12, 2023 21:49
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I wasn't going to suggest a more expensive tent since it sounded like you understood the tradeoffs of buying a cheapo tent like an Ozark Trail, but if we're going to be bringing $600 tents into the mix, Backcountry currently has this Alps Camp Creek two-room tent for 50% off, bringing the price down to $190. That's more than the $100 or so the ones you listed cost, but it's less than a third of that REI Wonderland. I have never used it, or anything Alps makes, and I think their stuff is typically viewed as good-but-not-great, but on the other hand, my wife owned an Ozark Trail tent before we met and it basically disintegrated. The Alps is billed as a 6-person tent; I agree that manufacturer-specified tent capacities are... optimistic, but I think you could probably fit 4 comfortably.
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Apr 3, 2023 23:31
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I am genuinely shocked that you don't like having two doors on opposite sides of the tent. I grew up camping with the Scouts in 4p tents with double doors and it was great. I haven't owned a 2-door tent since then and it infuriates me every time I have to get up and crawl over my wife and kid to go pee. My tent is in perfectly good shape -- at least I think it is, I guess I will find out when I take it out for the season, I am a little concerned about whether it was fully dry before it was re-stowed not by me -- and I have still seriously considered buying a new tent in a size I don't really need just to get the double doors back.
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Apr 6, 2023 01:26
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I finally went to REI to try to replace my beloved Vasques. The lady there told me that someone bought Vasque and they aren't carrying them these days. After trying a pair of Salomons that rubbed my ankle -- a shame, I have a pair of different Salomons for winter weather that I love -- I picked up a pair of Oboz that fit great, and which happened to be on sale, so even better. I wish I liked the look better, but they are fine. Hopefully I will like them as much as the Vasques, which are probably my favorite shoes of any kind that I've ever owned. While I was there I also picked up an Osprey Daylite Plus that I am very pumped to use. The build quality and fit and finish seem really nice, and I am kind of regretting not going for the Osprey duffel when I bought the Backcountry one, although I also have yet to actually put anything in this pack or take it anywhere, so I guess I'll see how I feel after I do that. I needed a new daypack anyway -- mine are mostly mysteriously missing, other than a little tiny free one I got from the bank, and none of mine were ever really great anyway. I used to hike a lot with the Boy Scouts and then I got old, but I have been wanting to get back to it, and construction-wise, it seems like a good fit for both hiking and day-to-day use. It will get broken in very gently -- comically gently, some might say, if they wanted to be unkind -- as I go for like 0.75 mile walks with my 4 year old, but I hope to get some longer hikes in in the near future and hopefully instill a love of hiking in the kiddo. Pack-wise, I am most excited about the ventilated back, which I hope will save me from Swamp Back, and this will also be the first pack of any kind I've owned with water bottle pockets. I am sure most of the technical features of this thing will be lost on me, but honestly, it isn't all that much more than, like, an Eastpak, if they still make those. I'm not looking to hike the AT or anything, but I miss doing stuff like Old Rag, although again, I am old. I also bought a cheap REI raincover, which I don't know if I will ever need, but if I'm gonna be carrying stuff like lunch and a first aid kit, it'd be nice if the contents of my bag didn't get totally soaked if it rains. As far as I can tell the REI cover is basically the same as the Osprey branded one.
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Apr 21, 2023 01:47
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xzzy posted:I tried on some Oboz last time I was buying and I really wanted to like them but they really do not make a boot for people with wide feet. Even their "wide" version was like stuffing my foot into a vice. Supposedly the 2022 Sawtooth refresh made their wide shoes a proper wide, like they measure out properly: https://hikingfeet.com/oboz-sawtooth-x-low-review/ So if it didn't work for you before, it might now. I never wore them before and I don't wear a wide, so I don't have any firsthand experience.
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Apr 21, 2023 13:00
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Kiddo made a 1.75 mile hike this morning without any complaint -- well, without any complaint about the distance -- which is much better than I expected. Now, if I can only get her to walk continuously instead of stopping every little bit to eat one (1) peanut butter cracker. I have almost no athletic socks these days and I ordered myself one six-pack of basic white tube socks and one pair of Darn Tough hiking socks. The tube socks are still in the mail, they're mostly what I hiked in as a kid, but the Darn Tough socks are here and I used them. They were fine. This was obviously a very short hike, but I plan to do longer ones as I get back into it. The Darn Tough ones are obviously quite expensive, something like $24 for a pair, vs. $15 for six pairs of basic athletic socks. I'm aware of the guarantee, which is obviously one difference, but beyond that, are they worth it for functional reasons? Worth it but only if you are doing some seriously hardcore hiking/backpacking? Not worth it at all? $24 is a lot for one pair of socks.
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Apr 23, 2023 19:46
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Thanks. It's not a hardship to buy, I just didn't want to spend the money if it isn't worth it. If it is worth it, great. Sounds like it is.
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Apr 23, 2023 21:39
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While we're on the subject, is it normal that the Darn Toughs are rather snug? I bought the size L, for shoe size 10-12. I wear a 10 and they are perfectly wearable, but I was surprised how tight they were.
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Apr 24, 2023 01:02
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Specific recommendations for hiking pants? I don't remember worrying about this as a kid, but I have no idea what I used then. These days I am old and mainly own jeans, chinos, and formalwear, none of which are really fit for purpose. I was browsing REI and Backcountry, I would love not to spend $100+ on technical pants since I'm not and probably never will be super hardcore, but maybe that's the way to go. I only need a couple pairs. It would be nice if they could also double as climbing pants -- I only really climb at the rock gym at the moment, so they don't need to survive actual rocks -- but it's not critical. I did find a few pairs on sale for $50-55 but they don't have my size (well, one is available in black, but that seems like a bad idea). My use case is cool-to-hot weather, I don't do much winter hiking. Currently I am hiking only a few miles at a time as I haven't done this in forever, so right now I can wear jeans or whatever and it's fine, but I'm looking to go longer distances. Longer like 6-8 hours, not longer like a week.
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May 1, 2023 15:18
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Fitzy Fitz posted:Osprey is having a pretty huge sale right now. Seeing lots of stuff for ~50% off. Where are you looking? Maybe it's just the items I'm looking for, but I'm seeing stuff at normal prices at REI, Backcountry, and Osprey's own site.
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May 18, 2023 17:54
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By the way, the REI Anniversary Sale began today, I've just discovered.
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May 20, 2023 02:13
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I am actually pretty disappointed in this sale. Most of these prices, even on sale, are not impressive. This has unfortunately been true every "biggest sale of the year" REI sale I've ever looked at. The 20% off anything not on sale thing could be nice, I guess, depending on what you need, but it doesn't merit the hype it gets. As mentioned, the few specific things I'm interested in, Backcountry and Moosejaw both seem to have better prices. Although Backcountry once sent me a completely different color of something than I ordered.
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May 20, 2023 09:27
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